A God of Death
by Leesy Metallium
Summary: Light Yagami was able to see ghosts. He was bored. He was presented with an opportunity too good to ignore. Death Note x Bleach crossover.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Light Yagami was able to see ghosts.

He didn't consider it to be anything special; it was just fact.

Spirits with unresolved issues lingered on this earth and, as he could see them, he wasn't about to deny their existence.

As a child he'd often tried to help them, but as he'd grown up it had all become a bit uninspiring. He'd occasionally assist one or two – do what he could to help them pass on – but on the whole, he let them be and they let him be.

He was a genius. This fact was obvious to everyone who knew him. He knew this to be the truth as much as he knew that ghosts were real.

Life was too simple for him. Nothing was a challenge. He was the top student in Japan. He was attractive. He was charming. He had remarkable athletic ability.

He was bored of the rotten world he saw around.

He was seventeen years old and his life was about to change forever.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

"It is near." was all she said as she appeared.

Light had been simply sitting at his desk as a dedicated student was want to do, when a black moth had glided through his window. He had thought nothing of it, until it had suddenly transformed into a young girl in a black and white hakama.

His entire body froze up and he stared. The girl stood in the middle of his room, looking in the opposite direction with a heavy and serious expression, as if completely oblivious to him. She had an air of the supernatural about her and the sword at her side didn't look like it was simply for display.

He remembered to breathe.

"Who are you?" he spoke in a low tone, keeping his voice as steady as he could and noting belatedly that her feet had made no sound as she crossed his hard wood floor.

She looked up in surprise, finally turning to face him. Light noticed that she looked a bit uncertain.

"Are you…addressing me?" she asked after a moment's pause.

"I am." He said simply, still not moving from his seat at his desk. He had not changed out of his school uniform, and the tie was beginning to feel as though it was chafing him.

"You can see me?" she asked with the same uncertainty that her face now betrayed.

"Should I not be able to?" he responded cautiously. She did not seem like a ghost, yet she was certainly not human.

"You must have unusually high spiritual force to be able to see me." she said simply, and turned away once again as if searching for something.

"What are you?" Light asked warily. He realised that she must be something more potent then a ghost, but he did not know that there were such things.

"Shinigami." was the simple and distracted response she gave. Light frowned slightly. He had never seen any evidence to prove the existence of such a thing as a God of Death, but he could see no reason to disbelieve this unusual spirit.

"I can't sense it anymore…it's disappeared." She cut through his thoughts with a defeated sigh. Turning suddenly, she drew her sword.

Light tensed and was about to leap out of the way, but before he could react, the hilt of the weapon came to a stop on the forehead of a ghost that had been lurking by the back of his chair. He and the ghost both stared in shock.

"No…" the ghost, who had the form of a scraggy middle-aged man, whimpered. Light had noticed him when he had entered the room this afternoon, but had taken not paid any attention to him. "I don't want to go to hell...!"

"Do not fear." The girl spoke in a calm and reassuring tone as the air around the ghost began to shine brightly. "You are not being sent to hell. It is Soul Society. Unlike hell, it is a peaceful place."

Without another word, the ghost was swallowed up by the light.

"What happened to him?" Light stared uncertainly at where the spirit had disappeared.

"I sent him to Soul Society. It is called a Soul Burial. In your language, I believe you call it 'going to heaven.' It is one of a Shinigami's duties."

Light nodded, but continued to stare at the girl warily. She had moved faster than his eyes could follow, and he knew that he should speak carefully until he could understand her motives.

"What are you searching for, Shinigami?" he asked. While deciding that caution was best, he had also desired to make the most out of this encounter. Knowledge was power, and Light recognised a gap in his knowledge when he saw one. "What can't you sense anymore?"

"An evil spirit; a Hollow." She frowned. "It feels like a great power is blocking my senses…."

"A Hollow?" Light's eyes narrowed uncertainly.

"Yes…" she turned to face him. "They are different to normal spirits. I'll draw you a diagram. Do you have a pen and paper?" Light nodded and pulled a few spare sheets off his desk and handed them to her with the pen he was still holding from when the Shinigami had first entered.

She sat on the floor and scribbled a few things down on the paper, before holding them up for Light to see. He was slightly taken back by how childish they were.

"In this world, there are two types of spirits. One is called Plus and is the most common spirit. They are the ghosts that you would no doubt be familiar with." The girl was pointing to the piece of paper on which she had drawn a rabbit with hearts circling, labelled as plus.

Light attempted to ignore this aspect of it and nodded.

"The other type," the girl continued, "are called Hollows. They attack both the living and dead and eat their souls. They are evil spirits" she pointed to the piece of paper on which was drawn a bear surrounded by thunderbolts.

Light smiled slightly. "They aren't very well drawn, but they're easy to understand. Thank you for explaining."

The Shinigami raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem to take the comment as an insult.

"Shinigami have two duties." She continued. "The first you have just seen; sending Pluses to the Soul Society. The other is eliminating Hollows. That is my current mission, though the Hollow I was tracking seems to have-"

Light's breath hitched as a terrible screech cut off the rest of the Shinigami's words.

"Was that it?" he asked with slight alarm. The girl gave him an uncertain look.

"Was what it?"

"That noise. That loud screech! Was that the noise of a-" this time it was Light's words that were cut short by the ghastly sound, but now the Shinigami had heard it too.

"Yes! That's undoubtedly a Hollow!" she ran to the door, before pausing and looking back at the young boy who continued to sit at his ordered desk in an immaculate private school uniform, eyes fixed steadily on her.

He had heard the cry before she, a Shinigami, had. It seemed impossible.

Another scream. This one was higher and sounded terrified.

"That's Sayu's voice…" Light whispered before jumping to his feet and racing towards the door.

"Wait, boy! You cannot fight a Hollow!" The Shinigami shouted. Light gave her an incomprehensible look before slamming the door open and disappearing through it.

She muttered a curse under her breath and followed him out of the room, skipping the flight of stairs and simply jumping over the balcony to land next to Light.

"So that's a Hollow…" Light stared at the beast with wide eyes. It was half the size of the house and covered in a thick monotone armour-like skin. Its large, empty, white eyes stared at them.

"Do not be afraid." The Shinigami spoke confidently. "I shall deal with it." She glanced at Light, but realised in an instant that his expression was not one of fear. It was wonderment.

"Light…help me…" came a strangled voice. Simultaneously, their eyes both fixed on the small figure that was held in the Hollow's bulky hand.

For a moment, Light simply continued to stare, his breathing heavy and disbelieving, before he turned to the Shinigami.

"That's my sister. How can I stop it?" he simply said.

"You, a human, cannot stop it. Leave it to me." The Shinigami said and drew her sword.

"But I must do something-" he moved forward to approach the beast.

"No! You must stay here! First Restraint: Obstruction!" she shouted and pointed at Light. Immediately, his arms jerked behind his back as if pulled by an invisible hand and he toppled to the floor.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment, "but you must leave it to me."

She dashed forward and slashed the Hollows arm deftly. Sayu fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Light stared up at the display from the ground, an ugly look forming on his face.

"How dare you…" he whispered viciously as he watched his younger sister fall to the ground. "How dare you do this to me!" he rolled over and jumped to his feet.

"What are you…" the Shinigami turned from the Hollow and stared at Light in horror. He was trying to break his arms away from his back. "Stop! You cannot release the incantation with a human's power! Your soul will tear apart-"

A loud cracking sound and a white glow; Light had done so.

"Don't you ever use that sort of magic on me again." He spat, making his way through the door and out to where the battle was taking place. The Shinigami stared in shock.

He was only a human…it was ridiculous and impossible…

The Hollow attacked. She turned, but it was too late; it had seen her moment of weakness. She raised her sword, but it did little to stop the teeth from sinking into her chest.

Light stared as the blood poured down her chest and the Hollow threw her against a wall like a rag doll, reeling from where her sword had cut its eye.

"It…must have been after you." He heard her choke out. "A human who can see Shinigami and break a demon form? Ridiculous. You must have a ridiculous amount of spiritual force, boy. It's almost certain that its target was you."

Light stared at her with an expression that might have been disgust.

"I do not wish to die here, Shinigami." He spoke steadily. "Is there a way I can stop this thing?"

The girl stared at him for a moment, before giving a small chuckle.

"There is a way…there is only one way…" she said, pressing a hand against the blood that leaked from her chest. "You become a Shinigami."

Light's eyes lit up. "Is that possible? How?"

"Pierce your chest with my Zanpakutou and I will give you half of my Shinigami powers." She raised her sword and held it out towards him.

"What are the dangers?" Light whispered, not taking his eyes off the sword.

"…I do not know." The Shinigami admitted. "Your high spiritual force should assist you but…I have to say that if the power doesn't take, then you will die."

Light turned his head to look at the Hollow, still flailing with the deep gash across its face.

"And if I don't become a Shinigami, then I shall die anyway." He said with a frown. That was not the only thing that swirled around his mind.

Hadn't he been waiting for an opportunity like this? Power. A chance to make a change in this rotten world and the power to do it.

Light smiled wickedly.

"Give me the sword, Shinigami. I'll do as you say."

"My name is not 'Shinigami'." The girl said with a small smile as she turned the blade towards the boy's chest. "It's Kuchiki Rukia."

Light gave her a curious glance and nodded. "I see. I am Yagami Light."

"Light…an unusual name…" Rukia frowned, before shrugging. "Let's do this."

Light nodded and the sword plunged in. A moment later, Rukia found herself doubled over on the cement, her breathing significantly more heavy and painful than before. Before her was a glowing blur.

She could do nothing but stare as she realised that he had taken every last drop of her Shinigami power. She had only intended to give him half, but he had sucked her dry.

Light's pristine school uniform had been replaced with the black and white hakama of the Shinigami uniform. In his hand was a dagger-like sword that glowed with ethereal power. Behind him lay the Hollow, its face severed down the middle and its body rapidly disintegrating.

"Who he is…?" Rukia whispered as she stared up with him, her spiritual form pressed to the ground in shock.

Light simply stood there, staring at the fallen hallow dispassionately.

Rukia prayed that she hadn't made a terrible mistake.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Morning. Light awoke with a start.

He stared around the room uncertainly, the events of the previous night flooding back to him. It was hard to believe that the events had really happened, but he trusted his memory not to confuse dreams with reality to such an extent.

His room had not been damaged from the confrontation, but he was sure that downstairs had been. Where had that Shinigami gone?

There was a knock at his bedroom door. With deliberate care, he steadily rose from bed and opened the door.

"Ah, good morning Light." His father stood at the door, dressed in a crisp suit, ready for work. "Sorry if I woke you but there's…been an incident."

Light gave his father a long hard look before peering past him down the stairs. A large portion of the living room wall looked as if a bulldozer had been through it.

"I'm not sure how it happened…or how no one woke up…" his father continued with a sigh. "But you'd better get dressed and come down. I've called over some people from the office to look into it, but they're as baffled as I am. I'd like your opinion."

Light made sure that he looked adequately shocked. "Was anyone hurt?" he said, remembering how beat up Sayu had appeared when he last saw her.

"No, and we must be very grateful for that. It would have been fatal had anyone been in the room at the time. Your mother is quite shaken."

Light nodded understandingly. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

His father was about to leave, before he turned back and looked Light up and down. "Did you sleep in your uniform last night? That's not like you."

Light started and glanced down at himself. He couldn't remember falling asleep, just defeating the Hollow and then… "Yes, I took a quick break from studying and must have dozed off."

His father simply raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded. "As long as you aren't working yourself too hard. I'll see you downstairs shortly."

As soon as he had gone, Light doubled back and closed the door. What _had_ happened immediately before he fell asleep last night? He could not remember clearly and found that fact quite distressing.

It was something to do with that Shinigami. Kuchiki Rukia, she had said her name was. She had done something that caused everyone to forget last night's events. Except that he remembered. Not all of it and not clearly, but he did. If it was the case that she'd tried to erase his memory, she'd failed her task.

He allowed himself a small smile as he grabbed a fresh uniform and made his way to the shower.

Ten minutes later he was standing in the rubble of what had once been his living room. "You were right, it's amazing that no one was hurt…" he stated, setting a perplexed expression upon the scene, "and more amazing that no one heard a thing."

"Even the neighbours say that they didn't notice anything unusual." A young dark-haired police officer stepped around one of the destroyed walls and into the house. "It's as if a particularly large and violent ghost had a bone to pick with your living room wall, Chief."

"Good morning Matsuda-san." Light gave a small polite bow to the man.

"Ah, good morning Light-kun! I don't suppose you've been able to shed any light on this mystery?"

"I regret that I'm as much in the dark as any of you. It's all very strange."

"Well if Light-kun doesn't have any ideas then I don't hold much hope for the rest of us." Matsuda laughed.

"Don't be absurd, Matsuda." Light's father said firmly. "I've already called in the forensics team from the office to see if they can find any hint as to what happened here."

"Ah yes…sorry Chief." Matsuda smiled apologetically. "I'll keep checking down the street, but if even the neighbours didn't see anything then I don't see how anyone else would have." he shook his head and retreated back out of the house.

"You'd better get to school, son. Sayu's already left and there's nothing more you can do here." Chief Yagami addressed his son, who slowly nodded.

"I'll come back directly after school to help clean up." Light said before walking towards the kitchen and grabbing his school bag off the bench. "Good luck with everything here."

He made his way to school more quickly than he usually would in order to ensure a timely arrival. Light Yagami was never late.

Just as he had planned, he arrived in class as the first bell was ringing and took the remaining seat by the window.

"Cutting it a bit fine, aren't we Yagami?" whispered an assertive female voice from behind him. "For a minute there I thought you were going to be late for the first day in your life."

Light turned his head slightly and smirked at the short haired girl sitting behind him. Her name was Arisawa Tatsuki and they had known each other since childhood. He didn't think they were particularly close, but she was someone who he was able to have easy conversation with.

Someone was staring at him. He could feel it.

Glancing to his left, he saw Inoue Orihime, Tatsuki's best friend. She was a very kind girl and a bit of an airhead, though she did well academically.

While she was always civil, Light could tell that she really didn't like him. He found this detail intriguing as it was a well known fact that_ everyone_ liked him. Yagami Light was simply a very charming and likable person. He knew it too.

Inoue gave him a small smile and nod and turned her eyes firmly towards the teacher.

Light raised his eyebrows slightly and did the same. It wasn't her eyes that he could feel staring at him, but he decided not to bother himself with it.

He had more important things to dwell upon. Like how he could find that Shinigami again. He had experienced a taste of her power and now needed more.

From what he could deduce, Shinigamis could not be seen by normal people, only those with high spiritual sense such as himself. Despite this, they could physically affect the world just as anyone else could.

And they were powerful. As soon as he'd felt the Shinigami force enter him, destroying the Hollow had been effortless. He had felt completely invincible and needed to feel that way again. Just thinking of all the things he could change with that power…he would be like a God…

A God of Death.

He was brought back to reality by a piece of chalk flung against his head.

"Mister National-Exam-Topper-Yagami, pay attention! You represent our whole school, so don't sit there daydreaming!" the teacher said in an annoyed tone as the class snickered.

Light smiled and brushed off his hair where the chalk had hit. "Sorry sensei."

The teacher shook her head and recommenced teaching the class. Light almost rolled his eyes; not listening in one class would not pull him off his pedestal by any stretch of the imagination.

Eventually the bell rang for lunch time.

"Mizuiro told me that there was a giant hole in your house, Light!" was the first thing that came to Light's ears as he stood from his seat. He picked the overly loud voice as Asano Keigo's without turning around.

"What? Is that true, Yagami?" Tatsuki said disbelievingly. Light sighed. He'd hoped not to have to discuss the matter.

"Yes, that's why I was late. Father woke me up this morning and told me that something had smashed through our living room wall." he explained.

"Think it was a car or something?" Keigo asked a fascinated look on his face as he, leant over Light's desk.

"It can't have been a car; the hole wasn't at the front of the house." Kojima Mizuiro chimed in as he joined the group around Light's desk. He passed Light's house on the way to school so they often walked to school together. It was no wonder he had seen the damage.

"It's a real mystery." Light said, hoping to exit from the conversation.

"Your father's a high up police officer though, isn't he? He'd be able to get heaps of people in to find out what happened."

"Yeah…we'll have to wait and see." Light said before a soft cough drew his attention away.

"Ah…are you Yagami-kun?" came an innocuous female voice from behind Light. He turned and set his eyes upon the girl who he most wished to see at that time. He couldn't believe that she had actually come to him.

"You…" a small grin tried to force its way onto his face but he suppressed it. "I apologise, but do I know you?"

"My name is Kuchiki Rukia, nice to meet you." She smiled.

"Ah, this is Kuchiki-san! She transferred here today. It's a weird time, but her family was in a situation where they had to move suddenly…" Mizuiro introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you." Light gave a small bow, his eyes flashing.

"As it's my first day, could you show me around the school? The teacher told me that you would be a good person to ask." Rukia said politely.

Light, of course, nodded. He couldn't help but be amazed by his luck as they walked, side by side, out of the classroom.

"I can't believe how lucky he is with girls!" Keigo lamented as soon as Light had left the room. "Why do they all clamber to be with him and not the super handsome and masculine Asano Keigo?!"

"You're too loud." Mizuiro sighed as Inoue edged towards Tatsuki uncertainly.

"Is it ok to let Kuchiki-san go off with Yagami-san like that?" she whispered to her best friend hesitantly.

"Honestly Orihime, I don't know what you have against Yagami! He's a nice guy. He isn't about to take her out the back and murder her." Tatsuki rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"I suppose so…" Inoue continued to stare out the classroom doorway uncertainly.

Rukia followed Light outside. They walked in silence until they came to a deserted area behind one of the school buildings.

"Mister National-Exam-Topper eh?" was the first thing out of her grinning mouth. "Son of a high ranking police officer? Don't you have it made!"

"I don't have it made. I worked hard to get where I am." Light said simply.

"Ah, yeah…" Rukia said, frowning slightly.

"Let's get straight to the point. Why are you here, Shinigami? I would have thought you'd go back to your Soul Society since the Hollow was defeated." Light said, making sure that he sounded a little bit annoyed by her presence. In order to get the upper hand he would not reveal that he had been attempting to work out a way to find her.

"Ah…there lies the problem." Rukia said, glancing down in slight embarrassment. "Only Shinigami can enter Soul Society. Right now I am not able to return there because I have lost my Shinigami powers."

Light's eyes lit up with delight for an instant, before he evened his expression.

"Are you saying that I still have the powers of a Shinigami?" he asked, hardly daring to believe his luck. He didn't feel any different to how he had previously, but that didn't seem to mean a thing.

"Yes. Last night you took almost all of my powers. Your soul has the power of a Shinigami while I barely have any abilities left and am even forced to use this artificial body." Rukia stared at her hand regretfully.

There was a moment's pause when the two stood there in silence.

"What do you want from me?" Light asked, a suspicious edge to his voice. Rukia grinned and raised a finger to his chest.

"Until my powers return, you will have to take over my Shinigami duties!"

Inside, Light could hardly believe his luck. Outside, he donned a sceptical expression.

"I cannot be held responsible for your carelessness. As you know, I can the top student in Japan and I must spend a great deal of time studying. I do not have the time to be running around fighting monsters-"

"The job must be done though, or many people will be put in danger!"

"Let me finish. I do not have the time to be running around fighting monsters… without getting something in return."

Rukia cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Agreeing to help you perform your Shinigami duties is no small matter. I can only imagine that it would involve a lot of time and a great deal of danger. This is something that I cannot accept without conditions." 

"What sort of conditions?"

"Independence. If I'm going to take on this job I cannot afford to be reliant on you. Show me how to become a Shinigami and instruct me on how to fight. I will be guided by you, but I will not be ordered about by you."

Rukia crossed her arms and gave Light a long stare. "Yes, I suppose that sounds fair."

Light gave Rukia a warm smile. "Then it is a deal then?"

Rukia couldn't help but return the expression. "Deal."


End file.
